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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Human Trafficking Unit Successfully Convicts First Known Case Charged Under The New Human Trafficking Statute

Miami-Dade
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced today that prosecutors in
her Human Trafficking Unit have successfully prosecuted what is believed to be
the first criminal court case in Florida to be charged pursuant to the recently
enacted Human Trafficking statute.

Assistant
State Attorneys Jane Anderson and Anna-Bo Emmanuel convicted David Salomon on one
count of Human Trafficking involving the commercial sexual exploitation of a
minor.

The
jury trial lasted two days and Salomon was convicted after three hours of
deliberation. Salomon is a habitual felony offender and is facing Life in
Prison for this crime. Sentencing is set before Circuit Court Judge Rodney
Smith on January 30, 2014.

This
case originated during a City of Miami undercover police operation targeting
prostitution in the area of Biscayne Boulevard and N.E. 79th Street.
A young girl who solicited two undercover officers for prostitution turned out
to have been just 15 years old. Another officer, acting as an “eyeball,”
noticed defendant Salomon communicating with the young girl by hand signals and
cell phone. The defendant appeared to be directing her to potential customers
driving by and warning her of police presence. The defendant was arrested and
Search Warrants were secured for both of their cell phones. The forensic
examination of the cell phones exposed the full nature of their relationship. Text
messages revealed that the defendant was acting as her pimp as she was being
commercially sexually exploited on the streets of Miami. Unfortunately, the
young victim has been missing since July 2013 and could not be located to
testify at the trial.

“David
Salomon is exactly the type of predatory individual my Human Trafficking Task
Force has targeted and will continue to target. His 15 year old victim lost her
innocence forever by becoming nothing more than his personal cash machine,”
commented Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Fortunately,
the City of Miami Police Department, the investigators and prosecutors from my
Human Trafficking Task Force, and the expertise of the attorneys in my Cyber
Crimes Unit, were able to compile sufficient evidence to gain a conviction in
this difficult case.”